Seriously, the ElevenMoms program is going well, but still only 6 months out of the gate, and we’ve pretty much had to do self-promotion on it… But they’re getting there.

It’s hard for any company to enter the treacherous waters of social media, but at least some of them are starting to try. Sometimes, they get it right the first time, sometimes they don’t – but it doesn’t excuse anyone from trying a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th time… however many it takes to get it right.

I hope that Walmart helps out with the victims of the Ice Storm… I know that a lot of their community outreach and help goes unblogged about while the ‘I had a horrible experience at this one store’ almost always does. The good news is that blogged about or not, they still try.

p.s. emailed you back about the elevenmoms thing – http://www.elevenmoms.com routes to the walmart site on us, but we’re a lot more than that!

@geekmommy – Heh. I had no idea there were Walmart Elevenmoms! I’d love to hear more about that and am grateful that John took the time out to speak to me yesterday. I’m following what you’re up to now and hope to learn more soon.

(I’ll be sure to fix the Twitter handle in a couple minutes.)

@skinny – I’m not sure it’s about deserving or not deserving a response. It’s about being yourself, reaching out to who you can and keeping the conversation flowing. I imagine with having the same local issues as my family that John was tiptoeing in and out when he could. All of North Arkansas pretty much had or has the same problem, no electricity which means sometimes no heat and mostly no water.

Corporations are attempting to walk in the water with us and talk to their customers directly and often that’s a huge step for them and their legal departments. I applaud their efforts, think they are listening to advice and moving in the right direction. Do corporations in general still have a lot to learn? Yep, but we all do! Even Chris would be the first to tell you he still has something to learn.

I don’t know who’s next but I’m happy to be here to find out!

And here the Walmart Elevenmoms are all over twitter (you do know I’m one, right?) and doing our best to help people realize that Walmart is on the cutting edge of retailers entering the Social Media space and engaging with their customers.

John Andrews has done an amazing job this year with bringing them into the Social Mediasphere with authenticity and genuine concern for those who are wondering if they can be heard by such a large company. (p.s. for some reason, your link has an r in his user ID rather than a t)

Great article – hope to read the follow up soon!!

@GeekMommy

chrisbrogan: You think big brands can’t communicate? WalMart HQ contacted me 15 minutes after I started asking. HUMAN. Very nice.

skinny [me]: @chrisbrogan Devil’s advocate, but I’m sure Walmart answers their phone when the right person calls, too. Would I have the same exp as you?

chrisbrogan: @skinny – a few dozen people have asked. I’m not sure. I don’t think I’m much in the eyes of a huge megacorp. Just a guy who types.

katadhin [walmart]: @skinny we’re working to make that a reality, we’re not there yet but improving every day. Feel free to reach out to me anytime.

I’m not sure I completely buy that WalMart didn’t know Chris Brogan from the average Joe. They did get accidentally become the world’s largest retailer. What I find interesting about this whole exchange is that

a) someone from WalMart responded to me
b) they apparently responded *only* to me

I’m not sure what I did to deserve that. As Chris pointed out, there was a score of folks that made the same point as I did. Perhaps it was too daunting to filter through all of his @replies and answer all of the detractors. I’m not sure they entirely have a handle on this emerging tech yet. They get an “E” for effort.

It does feel like social media is getting the ear of some monoliths. Add WalMart to the growing list of establishment organizations and companies that are finally starting to poke a toe in the water. Walmart, Obama, the Pope. Who’s next?

I know that Walmart isn’t the brightest shining start in terms of PR. All corporations make mistakes, but sometimes they make some really good choices too.

I’m glad you’re here Deb. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out what would be helpful. With very few ways to communicate in the area, it’s taking a while to figure out what they are organizing.

They’ve got an image to clean up. Here’s a perfect opportunity to make headway into that – right in their home state.

I think they could do something – and should do something. You said it well – they have their own infrastracture. The fact that they did more than the federal governmnent during Katrina, frankly doesn’t say much. The federal government was horrible and slow during Katrina – it’s well documented.

I’ll watch to see if they actually do more than have their employees raise money for assistance for their home state. I hope they do. I’m not holding my breath.

In the meanwhile – what can we, the twitter community, do to assist? Let us know. Please.